It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
My second Berlin concert this year, my 4th concert during the B2B tour and it really was one of the best shows ever, in a row with the concerts in Essen 1965, Dortmund `67 and the gigs at Wembley 1990 and 95. While our first trip was BEQUEM by aircraft, we were now on tour by train to Erleben a concert at the legendary Berlin Waldb�hne. I think the band has many fans here in the Ruhr area - We met a lot of them on our way to Berlin.
Many thanks from here to Erich `Ete� Servi for his hospitality. (a lot of Stones stuff and a box of beer when You are back again. The Waldb�hne is a great open air stage, like an antique theatre, in a nice, green belt near Olympiastadion. Thus thinkable good suppotions for a great concert. Ok, we got familiar to the cool weather and the rain during the last concerts, but this time we had good weather and no rain!!! A perfect late summer evening. Not so good: The tickets for this concert were very expensive Many fans were in horror when they heard about prices near 200 marks (1965 I got my ticket for 8 marks...)
There were about 1500 standing places, but most of them were reserved (by internet) before the day the advance sale started, so the ticket agencies couldn�t offer the cheaper tickets so there was no chance to get a placenear to stage. On Saturday (5.9.) the Berliner Morgenpost (newspaper) started to sell tickets for about 140 marks, one day before the show they sold tickets for 90 marks again. Well, we had our tickets yet...
The warm up was done by The Corr, the band who already did the Prague concert. The Irish music fitted into this landscape good work, but of course it isn�t easy to play just before the headliners. Ok, now the concert itself. Of course the big stage wasn�t build up at the rather small Waldb�hne, and the Jumbotron was missing, but there were two video screens left and right the stage. It felt a bit like the concerts in the 60s - but the Sound was state of the art! The band also enjoyed the show and everybody did a great job. A great show!!!
Best songs this time: Gimme shelter, Respectable, Saint of me and Out of control
Start time: 20:40 End time : 22:45
The set list:
PS. IORR comments to the set list: All songs were performed on the main stage. There was no B-stage (center stage) at the Waldb�hne show. There was no cyber voting for this show, so probably they just wanted to play Let It Bleed, the song that was in the lead for the Mannheim show, being on the cybervote at the time of this show.
visitors:20.000 people of 22.000 available tickets due to high ticket prices ( 200 DM ) not sold out
Venue: Waldb�hne, an old amphi theatre with a perfect sound and view from every place all over the "stadium"
Stage: No stadium stage, No bridge, No b-stage, No Central screen Just a normal looking stage without any special effects, but two video screens to the left and the right of the stage.
My place was fifth row, Keith side, almost 20 meters from the stage. I had a great view, and I could see clearly what happened on the stage.
So, this was the so called final european show in a smaller venue. It was a historical place, where the Stones had been playing twice before:
I tell you guys, this show at the Waldb�hne was my 11th concert which I have seen during the Bridges Tour, and it was my first in a smaller venue. It was one of the BEST STONES Concerts I have ever seen.
The Stones were in such a good shape, You could "feel" the fun, the boys had during the performance. Indeed it was a brillant show. The first 10 songs up to Miss You were on such a high level, with almost NO low points in it. Almost each song was a higlight.But to me personaly this were the tops of the show:
Respectable : this one does really rock.
Memory Motel: Mick just on vocals, again a superb version
Saint of Me and Out of Control: this great double-pack became one of the absolute highlights of the tour. I would like to have both songs in the classic section on the next world tour.
Let it Bleed :First time in my live, I saw this one performed live. GREAT !!!
Thief in the Night: I really like this one more and more. It is a typical Keith song.
Live with me : nice to have this rare one performed live.
But as I said already, the whole show was so great, I was so glad that I did not miss it, because I was thinking of leaving this one out... It would have been a big mistake, but so I must say: After seeing the Stones in such a place, without any special effects, like the stadium shows offer, I am sure that this band is so vital with so much energy that they still have theire best to come. They did a perfect 2 hour performance, which NO other band can compete with. That is for sure.
After the Waldb�hne I must say:
P.S. This was my final show this year, and I am looking forward to next summer ( the 2 London Shows).
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It's Only Rock'n Roll 1998 -
© The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe |